Gifted Kiddies

Why yes, I'm still trying to find out everything I can about "gifted" children. NOBODY has any "official" definitions of gifted. I've heard a couple plausible-sounding definitions from my peers (most notably Caution!, as her definition was both interesting and quite different from everyone else's - and it dovetailed quite nicely with mine!), but I stillllll want to know what the official definition is. That way I can scoff blatantly at it. (My current personal definition is something along the lines of a "creative genius." Brilliant and inspired. Gosh, I have no idea, never mind.) Aha. But wikipedia to the rescue! Wikipedia tells me basically that intellectually gifted kids aren't challenged by the normal school curriculum. I wonder what the word is for kids who aren't challenged by the curriculum? Terminally gifted, maybe. I think I like it. But seriously, we're too fucking elitist as it is.

I found an intriguing-looking podcast on gifted kids. I haven't had time to listen to much of it, but it could be good. I also found something about how gifted kids test in the 97th percentile of "intelligence tests" (which I do not trust at ALL, thankyouverymuch)... and, embarrassingly enough, my first thought was along the lines of "that low? Maaaaan, that's lame." I don't think I've ever tested below the (high) 99th percentile, except on those tests where you're being tested on what you've been taught. Mostly because I haven't been taught anything by a professional in, uh, years. I may never have been. I did learn to lie, but I don't think that's tested. Sad, really. Anyway, I don't really like intelligence tests because they are frequently skewed towards one specific sort of intelligence. Not always true, but sometimes. I'd like a gifted test in which a couple people (one at a time, probably) talked directly to these kids. Now THAT would be interesting.

Assuming (big assumption here) we take "gifted" to be "incredibly intelligence," people are waaaaaaaaaay overdiagnosing kids as being "gifted." These days, basically anyone who can spell "the" reliably is being diagnosed as gifted! "OMG! My daughter just said mommy for the first time at age 9! She's GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFTED!" Seriously. Shut. The. Fuck. Up. When did being average become so terrible, anyway? Basically, the majority of people are going to be "average." It's not the end of the world. People have been dealing with being average for ages. Get over it.

However, the "average" people are getting smarter. At least theoretically. Quite a few parents are focusing more and more on making their precious little kiddies into brilliant little buggers. There really should be the option for anyone to take challenging classes whenever they want. Not just "gifted" kids will benefit from being challenged. I promise. Not that "gifted" kids are really getting challenged either. Ah, my personal pet peeve. I was identified as "gifted" at some point in my early years. I got moved into the special "gifted" classes. For the next few years of my education, I spent my time drawing cave paintings, acting out Greek mythology, and being one of the only kids who were: 1. smart, 2. creative, and 3. interested in learning. Surprisingly enough, I was bored out of my mind in those classes. I stopped doing my homework. And you know what? Nothing's changed. My IB classes now do not challenge me. At all. And, um, I don't do my homework very often either. This is going to come back and bite me in the ass at some point, but hopefully I'll have enough challenging work to overlook the inevitable drudge work.

Honestly, I think people just need to be challenged more and taught in whatever style helps them learn best. And seriously, cut down the homework level! After a certain point, extra homework just isn't useful. And that's just how it is.

Ah. And according to this handy-dandy little graph-chart-thing, giftedness IS IQ-based. I don't know my exact IQ, but I'm likely anywhere from "highly gifted" to "profoundly gifted." According to the internet. The internet also tells me I'm psychic. Obviously, I trust what the internet tells me quite a bit. But seriously, who cares? It's interesting in the sense that my zodiac sign is interesting - amusing, but not actually relevant to my life.

Cheers,
kiiziie